Official: Fighting the Hayden Pass Fire more scientific than people think

By Sarah Matott

The Daily Record

Posted:
07/15/2016 06:43:05 PM MDT

Incident Management Team Public Information Officer, Kale Casey, talks to Hayden Pass Fire evacuees at the Howard Fire Department. He explained to them the tactics fire crews have to use when fighting a fire like this. (Sarah Matott / Daily Record)

After almost burning for one whole week, the Hayden Pass Fire still remains at zero percent containment.

Many residents from Coaldale, as well as those across the region, have criticized the firefight.

However, the public information officer for the fire's incident team says that fighting a wildfire like the Hayden Pass Fire is a lot more scientific than people may think and that it'll take awhile before any areas can be considered "contained."

PIO Kale Casey, who has spent part of his career fighting on the fire line, explained that the way firefighters fight a fire is a lot different than what Mother Nature does.

"This is the ecosystem at work, and this is a forest that has needed to burn for a long time," Casey said.

Evan Burks and Kale Casey, public information officers for the fire's incident management team, point to the ridgeline above Cutty's Resort to show where the Hayden Pass Fire naturally burned out. (Sarah Matott / Daily Record)

The region that the fire is burning in consists of a lot fuel, such as dead timber and beetle kill.

Mark Gully, a resident of Coaldale, said after a community meeting in Cotopaxi on Wednesday night that he had just hiked up in the Hayden Pass area a week prior to the fire starting.

"I went up there, and there are a lot, a lot of dead trees up there," Gully said.

He said that simply looking at the dead trees from the roadside doesn't do it justice because the amount of dead trees he saw was just massive.

Mike Smith with the Cañon City Fire District said earlier in the week that this is why the fire is burning so much, because it has a lot of fuel it is eating through.

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"With up to half of those trees up there being dead, and with a number of those haven fallen to the ground, it has burn a ladder of fuel," Smith said.

According to the Incident Management Team's update Thursday evening, in areas with beetle kill, downed trees and unpredictable fire behavior, fire crews are using indirect tactics to lessen hazards.

Indirect tactics can include preliminary suppression tactics, such as fuel reduction and emergency fire lines.

PIO Casey said that is one of the main things crews were working on during the first days of the fire fight.

"Guys went out there and did a lot of the prep work, like cutting down the dead trees and removing any fuels that were on the ground," Casey aid.

With the fuel for the fire removed, then there is less for it to burn, which in theory means the fire will stop burning in those areas.

However, the fight to suppress the Hayden Pass Fire isn't as easy as removing all the fuels and hoping it will stop but is an obsessive science that fire crews must use to combat the fire under their terms.

One of the ways fire crews battle wildfires isn't just by dumping gallons of water on top of it, but by intentionally igniting areas near the fire.

"(There's) so much knowledge and skill needed to burn a mountain and when we do it, the forest is in good shape. But, when Mother Nature does it with a lightning strike, it takes out everything," Casey said.

During a media tour Thursday, Casey along with Evan Burks explained how crews will have to get rid of additional fuel on the hillside, before the fire can be contained in areas.

Both Casey and Burks each have fought on the fire lines and speak from experience.

Pointing to the ridgeline near Cutty's Resort in Coaldale, Burks pointed out where the fire had actually stopped burning naturally.

You could see where the blackened, charred trees meet up with the untouched, green trees.

"Where the fire line meets those new trees is where we are going to work to contain the fire," Burks said.

Casey added that during the 7 to 10 days, people will see fire crews burning the green that is still up there.

"That this is how fire crews get the job done," he said.

As of Friday, the Hayden Pass Fire had grown to approximately 15,754 acres.

A total of 645 firefighters from 24 different states have responded to the fire, as well as three Type 3 helicopters, one Type 2 helicopter and three Type 1 helicopters that are all working to drop buckets of water and fire retardant.

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